HP buys Palm, a technology fusion to come?

End of April, 2010, the announcement of HP buying Palm seems for certain to come as a surprise, others however see the purchase as a very interesting and strategic movethat comes logically. HP paid about 1,2 billion USD for the purchase, and final validation of authorities is expected this Summer.

Palm, mostly known for its Palm Pilot from about 10 years ago, was one of the early innovaters in the market of smartphones. However, after their breakthrough competion did catch up with them and Palm never really seemed to have recovered his initial leader position.

HP on the other hand has not yet managed to ditch into the smart phone market and might seems to target with the Palm purchase the possibility to achieve its breakthrough this time. Palm is still renowned for its Operating System - WebOS- and this represents one of its main interests to purchase.

Mutual agreement

Both parties seems very keen on the purchase, and officially announce their mutual respect and advantages for joined development:

Â«Palmâ€™s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HPâ€™s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devicesÂ», said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. Further he mentions that Â«Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this marketÂ».

Â«Weâ€™re thrilled by HPâ€™s vote of confidence in Palmâ€™s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HPâ€™s longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOSÂ», said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, Palm.